Two or three distinct phases of changes to bone mass occur over the life of an individual (see Riggs, West J. Med. 154:63-77 (1991)). The first phase occurs in both men and women and proceeds to attainment of a peak bone mass. This first phase is achieved through linear growth of the endochondral growth plates and radial growth due to a rate of periosteal apposition. The second phase begins around age 30 for trabecular bone (flat bones such as the vertebrae and pelvis) and about age 40 for cortical bone (e.g., long bones found in the limbs) and continues to old age. This phase is characterized by slow bone loss and occurs in both men and women. In women, a third phase of bone loss also occurs, most likely due to postmenopausal estrogen deficiencies. During this phase alone, women may lose an additional 10% of bone mass from the cortical bone and 25% from the trabecular compartment (see Riggs, supra).
Loss of bone mineral content can be caused by a wide variety of conditions and may result in significant medical problems. For example, osteoporosis is a debilitating disease in humans and is characterized by marked decreases in skeletal bone mass and mineral density, structural deterioration of bone, including degradation of bone microarchitecture and corresponding increases in bone fragility, and susceptibility to fracture in afflicted individuals. Osteoporosis in humans is preceded by clinical osteopenia (bone mineral density that is greater than one standard deviation but less than 2.5 standard deviations below the mean value for young adult bone), a condition found in approximately 25 million people in the United States. Another 7-8 million patients in the United States have been diagnosed with clinical osteoporosis (defined as bone mineral content greater than 2.5 standard deviations below that of mature young adult bone). Osteoporosis is one of the most expensive diseases for the health care system, costing tens of billions of dollars annually in the United States. In addition to health care-related costs, long-term residential care, and lost working days add to the financial and social costs of this disease. Worldwide, approximately 75 million people are at risk for osteoporosis.
The frequency of osteoporosis in the human population increases with age. Among Caucasians, osteoporosis is predominant in women who, in the United States, comprise 80% of the osteoporosis patient pool. The increased fragility and susceptibility to fracture of skeletal bone in the aged is aggravated by the greater risk of accidental falls in this population. More than 1.5 million osteoporosis-related bone fractures are reported in the United States each year. Fractured hips, wrists, and vertebrae are among the most common injuries associated with osteoporosis. Hip fractures in particular are extremely uncomfortable and expensive for the patient, and for women, correlate with high rates of mortality and morbidity.
Although osteoporosis has been regarded as an increase in the risk of fracture due to decreased bone mass, none of the presently available treatments for skeletal disorders can substantially increase the bone density of adults. A strong perception among many physicians is that drugs are needed that could increase bone density in adults, particularly in the bones of the wrist, spinal column, and hip that are at risk in osteopenia and osteoporosis.
Current strategies for the prevention of osteoporosis may offer some benefit to individuals but cannot ensure resolution of the disease. These strategies include moderating physical activity (particularly in weight-bearing activities) with the onset of advanced age, providing adequate calcium in the diet, and avoiding consumption of products containing alcohol or tobacco. For patients presenting clinical osteopenia or osteoporosis, the prevalent current therapeutic drugs and strategies are directed to reducing further loss of bone mass by inhibiting the process of bone absorption, a natural aspect of the bone remodeling process that occurs constitutively.
For example, estrogen is now being prescribed to retard bone loss. However, some controversy exists over whether patients gain any long-term benefit and whether estrogen has any effect at all on patients over 75 years old. Moreover, use of estrogen is believed to increase the risk of breast and endometrial cancer. Calcitonin, osteocalcin with vitamin K, or high doses of dietary calcium, with or without vitamin D, have also been suggested for postmenopausal women. High doses of calcium, however, can often have unpleasant gastrointestinal side effects, and serum and urinary calcium levels must be continuously monitored (e.g., Khosla and Rigss, Mayo Clin. Proc. 70:978-982, 1995).
Other therapeutic approaches to osteoporosis include bisphosphonates (e.g., Fosamax™, Actonel™, Bonviva™, Zometa™, olpadronate, neridronate, skelid, bonefos), parathyroid hormone, calcilytics, calcimimetics (e.g., cinacalcet), statins, anabolic steroids, lanthanum and strontium salts, and sodium fluoride. Such therapeutics, however, are often associated with undesirable side effects (for example, calcitonin and steroids may cause nausea and provoke an immune reaction, bisphosphonates and sodium fluoride may inhibit repair of fractures, even though bone density increases modestly) that may preclude their efficacious use (see Khosla and Rigss, supra).
No currently practiced therapeutic strategy for treating a condition associated with excessive or insufficient bone mineralization, such as osteoporosis or other disorders characterized by loss of bone mineralization, involves a drug that alters (i.e., increases or decreases in a statistically significant manner) bone mass. In particular, no current strategy therapeutically stimulates or enhances the growth of new bone mass. The present invention provides compositions and methods which can be used to increase bone mineralization, and which therefore may be used to treat a wide variety of conditions in which an increase in bone mass is desirable. The present invention also offers other related advantages.